Lions, Knights rekindle rivalry

San Beda and Letran renew one of collegiate basketball’s fiercest rivalries with the former eyeing to fortify its grip on the No. 2 spot and the latter hoping to continue to draw inspiration from a fallen teammate Jerrick Balanza today in the 94th NCAA basketball tournament at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
The Lions will come into their 2 p.m. showdown as the favorites having secured having comfortably occupied a place in the top two with a 10-1 (win-loss) mark behind the Lyceum of the Philippines University Pirates (11-0) and having beaten the Knights, 80-76, in overtime on Aug. 10.
Robert Bolick and Donald Tankoua were instrumental in San Beda’s first-round win over Letran, while AC Soberano had his share of heroism by burying a pair of three-pointers in OT.
“We expect it to be tougher for us because we know Letran is a strong team and is always a contender,” said San Beda University coach Boyet Fernandez.
For Letran, it seeks to ride the crest of its 99-82 win over Arellano University on Thursday for a win it dedicated to Balanza, who recently had a surgery that removed a tumor on his brain.

“We will dedicate all our remaining games to Jerrick,” said Napa.
CSB, meanwhile, takes on San Sebastian at 4 p.m.
The Blazers lost to the Stags in their first-round duel, but the league forfeited it after San Sebastian’s RK Ilagan was caught to have played in other leagues outside the NCAA.

More from this Category:

COMMENT DISCLAIMER: Reader comments posted on this Web site are not in any way endorsed by Manila Standard. Comments are views by manilastandard.net readers who exercise their right to free expression and they do not necessarily represent or reflect the position or viewpoint of manilastandard.net. While reserving this publication’s right to delete comments that are deemed offensive, indecent or inconsistent with Manila Standard editorial standards, Manila Standard may not be held liable for any false information posted by readers in this comments section.